猿も木から落ちる

Japanese

Kanji in this term
猿	木	落
さる Grade: S	き Grade: 1	お Grade: 3
kun'yomi

Alternative spelling
サルも木から落ちる (rare)

Etymology

Phrase consisting of 猿 (saru, “monkey”) + も (mo, “even, also”) + 木 (ki, “tree”) + から (kara, “from”) + 落ちる (ochiru, “fall”).^[1][2][3] Literally “even monkeys fall from trees”.

First cited to a text from 1638.^[4]

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) さ​るもき​からおち​る [sáꜜrù mò kíꜜ kàrà òchíꜜrù] (Atamadaka + Atamadaka + Nakadaka)^[2]

• IPA^(key): [sa̠ɾɯ̟ mo̞ kʲi ka̠ɾa̠ o̞t͡ɕiɾɯ̟]

Proverb

猿(さる)も木(き)から落(お)ちる • (saru mo ki kara ochiru) 

1. [from 1638] even experts occasionally make mistakes: even Homer nods, a horse may stumble though he has four legs

Synonyms

• 弘法(こうぼう)にも筆(ふで)の誤(あやま)り (kōbō ni mo fude no ayamari, “there are brush mistakes even with Kūkai [a master calligrapher]”)
• 上手(じょうず)の手(て)から水(みず)が漏(も)れる (jōzu no te kara mizu ga moreru, “water leaks [even] from skilled hands”)
• 河童(かっぱ)の川流(かわなが)れ (kappa no kawanagare, “a water-imp's getting washed away by the river”)

See also

• 豚(ぶた)もおだてりゃ木(き)に登(のぼ)る (buta mo odaterya ki ni noboru, “if surprised, even a pig will climb a tree”)

References

1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
3. Matsumura, Akira (1995) 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
4. “猿も木から落ちる”, in 日本国語大辞典 [Nihon Kokugo Daijiten]‎ (in Japanese), concise edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2006

• Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN